Family: How Did Special Needs Student Plunge Out Of Back Of School Bus?
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 12-year-old boy from the Bronx remained in critical condition Monday night, three days after he jumped or fell out of a school bus.
As CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported, A.J. Pediford was hospitalized at Jacobi Medical Center with a serious head injury Monday night. Meanwhile his family wondered whether they will see him smile once more.
"I'm just hoping my son survives – that's all," said A.J.'s father, Maliek Pediford.
Maliek Pediford got the news on Saturday, one day after A.J., a special needs student, apparently opened the emergency door on a school bus. A.J. then fell or jumped to the ground as the bus made its rounds in the Bronx.
A.J. has been living with a foster family for the last year, after a mistreatment allegation that his father and grandmother dispute.
They said they assumed the city would keep him safe.
"I'm just wondering -- how could this happen?" said A.J.'s grandmother, Nyahali Pediford-Aziz. "And how could a child just open a door like that? Who's watching him?"
CBS 2's Aiello spoke with a veteran school bus driver, who said the rear emergency door is never locked while kids are on the bus. She said it takes a bit of muscle to get the rear door open, but a 12-year-old could definitely do it.
The bus company refused to say whether a monitor was on the bus, in addition to the driver.
A.J. attends a school on a special needs campus in Brooklyn. His grandmother said she told the Department of Education the boy might act out on the long bus ride to the Bronx.
"I said, 'He needs somebody on the bus. He has a history of this on the bus, you know,'" Pediford-Aziz said.
The Administration for Children's Services said in a statement, "We are working with the foster care provider and other relevant parties to investigate the circumstances that led to this tragic incident."
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